It seems remarkable that it's taken until now for Johnny Marr to release a solo album. After all, he has hardly kept quiet since the Smiths split in 1987, playing with everyone from Electronic and the Healers to Modest Mouse and the Cribs.

In a recent Guardian interview with Dave Simpson, Marr explained his decision to go solo at the age of 49: "I felt something was missing from pop … when you hit it right on guitars in pop, it can be vivacious and exuberant and shiny."

If guitar music is struggling for an identity right now, then Marr has a pretty strong view of what it's lacking: sparkling arpeggios, soaring choruses, endless spidery guitar parts of the kind that would only ever appear on a Johnny Marr record (mainly because only Johnny Marr could play them).

For a musician who has so long sought to escape from the shadow of the Smiths, The Messenger is also an album that references his former band and is all the better for doing so. Have a listen using the widget above and let us know your thoughts in the comment section.